Cam-shaft driving mechanism.



L. COATALEN.

CAM SHAFT DRIVING MECHANISM. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. a. IsIsI 1 ,24Q420, Patented Sept 18, 1917.

Znveniar:

Lou o windy W ran te ra onic.

LOUIS OOA'IALEN, 0F WOLVERI-IAMPTON, ENGLAND, ASSIGNOR 0F ONE-HALF T0 SUNBEAM MOTOR CAR. COMPANY LIMITED, OF WOLVERHAMPTON, ENGLAND.

CAM-SHAFT DRIVING MECHANISM.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, LOUIS CoATALnN, a subject of the King of Great Britain, and resident of WVolverhampton, in the county of Stafford, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cam-Shaft Driving Mechanism, of which the following is a specification.

On many internal combustion engines the cam shaft is arranged above the cylinders and is driven from the crank shaft by a train of spur gears arranged at one end of the engine. It is desirable from the point of lightness and stiffness that the cam shaft should be as short as possible, which means that the gear wheel thereon lies close up to the adjacent engine'cylinder. If a long plain bearing is provided for the crank shaft the pinion thereon, which forms one of the train driving the cam shaft, lies at some distance from the axis of the front cylinder. It is the object of the present invention to provide simple and light means, particularly applicable to very light engines such as those used for aviation, whereby the cam shaft pinion and crank shaft gear, arranged in difierent planes as stated, can be'connected together by a simple train of spur wheels.

The accompanying drawing is a central vertical section of part of an engine having cam shaft driving mechanism constructed in accordance with this invention.

The cam shaft A, which is arranged over the engine cylinders, one of which is shown at B, is driven from the crank shaft C through a train of spur gears located beneath a cover plate D. The first of these gears, the pinion E is mounted upon the crank shaft and, owing to the length of the crank shaft bearing F, the pinion E lies a relatively considerable distance away from the axis of the cylinder B. The driving gear G on the cam shaft is however coinparatively close up to the axis of the cylinder, as it is desirable that this gear should be close up to its bearing. This results in the gears E and G lying in two different planes. The gear wheel G is driven through an intermediate train of spur gears H J K L and M from the pinion E. The gear M in actual fact is located between the gears E and L but its axis does not lie in the same vertical plane as that of the axes of the other gears, and it is shown below the crank shaft for the sake of clearness, but it will be Specification of Letters Patent. P te ted Sept. 18, 1917.

Application filed September 6, 1916.

Serial No. 118,781.

understood that it actually lies in the space indicated at M In this train of gears one or more wheels is made of greater width than the adjacent gears. Thus the wheel K is practically twice as wide as the gear wheels J and L and the wheel L drives the right hand part and the v gear wheel J is driven by the left hand part of the broad gear wheel K. In this way the drive is transmitted from the crank shaft to the cam shaft through a train of spur gears which do not all lie in the same plane.

Preferably each intermediate gear wheel is mounted upon a tubular distance piece N carried partly by the casing O and partly by its cover plate D and each distance piece is held in place by a screwed pin P which screws into the cylinder casting at B or into the wall of the water jacket. Upon each distance piece N are mounted the ball bearings S which carry the intermediate gear wheel. The arrangement for supporting the gear wheel L is different as this drives the spindle T for the water pump V.

By this means it is unnecessary to overhang the gear wheel G to any great extent in order to bring it into the plane of the driving gear wheel E and a substantial construct-ion is provided for the mounting of the gear train between the crank shaft and the cam shaft and a train of gearing of very small weight is used.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In cam shaft driving gear for an internal combustion engine, the combination of a crank shaft, a cam shaft located above the engine cylinders, a driving spur pinion mounted in one vertical plane on said crank shaft, a driven spur gear wheel mounted on said cam shaft in a different vertical plane, and an intermediate gear connection including a broad spur gear one side of which is driven from said pinion while the other side drives on to said gear wheel, substantially as set forth.

2. In cam shaft driving gear for an in ternal combustion engine, the combination of a crank shaft, a cam shaft located above the engine cylinders, a driving spur pinion mounted in one vertical plane on said crank shaft, a driven spur gear wheel mounted on said-cam shaft in a different vertical plane, an intermediate gear connection-including a broad intermediate spur gear one side of which is driven from said pinion While the other side drives on to said gear Wheel, an engine casing, a cover plate, a distance piece supporting the intermediategear and carried by the engine casing and cover plate, and a screw passing through said distance piece into saidengine casing, substantially as set" forth.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for "'LOUIS OOATALEN.

Witnessesi 7 JOHN MARSTON, W; M. ILIFF, 

